Folding sawhorse



March 30, 1954 E. H. J. sToRcK FOLDING SAWHORSE 2 Sheets-Sheet l FiledJan. 4. 1951 Fig.

In ventor Eduard H. J. Sforc/r am 5mm March 30,v 1954 E, H. J. sToRcK2,673,765

FOLDING sAwHoRsr:

Filed Jan. 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I n ventor Eduard HJ Starck d/weyHmm Patented Mar. 30, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDING SAWHORSEEduard H. J. Storck, Nashville, Ill.

Application January 4, 1951, Serial No. 204,379

5 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in saw horses and moreparticularly to saw horses having longitudinally extending rails andfoldable legs secured thereto. The invention also relates to saw horseshaving means for longitudinally extending the same as well as means forproviding a vertical extension to the supporting legs.

An object of the present invention is to provide a folding saw horsehaving a longitudinally eX- tending supporting rail and legs secured toeach end thereof with means for hingedly securing the legs to thesupporting rail for pivoting move ment towards each other and forpositioning in juxtaposition to the supporting rail whereby the sawhorse may be conveniently stored or transported.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a folding sawhorse with means for releasably latching the hingedly secured legs intheir supporting position relative to the supporting rail.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a bracemeans for preventing movement of the legs with respect to the supportingrail when the latch means is in released position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a saw horse havinga pair of supporting rails, each of the supporting rails being providedwith a pair of legs xedly secured thereto, said supporting rails beingadapted to be secured together to provide an elongated saw horse.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means forrigidifying the elongated saw horse by providing connecting strutsbetween intermediate portions of the supporting rails and the lower endportions of the legs.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a conventionalsaw horse with means for vertically extending the same with respect tofollow. The best forms in which I have conf templated employing myinvention are clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a first form of folding sawhorse;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the saw horse of Figure l;

Figure 3 is an end elevational View of the saw horse of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a side elevational View of the folding saw horse in foldedposition;

Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View taken substantiallyalong the plane of line 5'-5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantiallyalong the plane of line 6 6 of Figure 5;

Figure 6a is an enlarged view in perspective of the brace means;

Figure 7 is a side elevational view of a modified form of longitudinallyextensible saw horse;

Figure 8 is a top plan View of the saw horse of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantiallyalong the plane of line 9 9 of Figure 7;

Figure 10 is an end elevational view of a third form of verticallyextensible folding saw horse; and

Figure 11 is a detail perspective view of the connecting bracketemployed in the third form of the invention for receiving the lower endsof the legs of the conventional saw horse.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like numeralsdesignate like parts throughout, numeral l! designates generally a firstform of folding saw horse, the numeral l2 designates generally theelongated saw horse construction while the numeral I4 designatesgenerally the vertical extension means for a conventional saw horse.

The folding saw horse construction I0 shown in Figures 1 through 6 iscomprised of a first hinge bracket I6, latch elements I8 and 2U, andbrace means 22.

The hinge bracket It is comprised of a first portion 24 which is iixedlysecured to the supporting rail 26 by means of the bolts 28. The firstportion 2d is of U-shaped cross-section with the upstanding walls 30 inabutment with the side lwalls of the supporting rail 26. Theiirstportion 24 has a second portion 32 secured thereto, the secondportion 32 being formed from angulated sheet metal section 34 providingsockets for receiving the upper ends 36 of the legs 38. The secondportions 32 are also formed with latch elements A0 which are comprisedof portions of the plate 34 being slit and bent to provide an offsetlatching means.

A third portion 42 ofv the rst bracket IS is from eachl other.

hingedly connected to the first portion |6 by means of the hinge 44 andhas a pair of hinge sections 46 and 48 hingedly secured thereto by thelongitudinally extending hinges 50 and 52. The hinge sections 46 and 48are comprised of angulated sheet metal strips which encircle three sidesof the legs and are secured to the inner and guter surfaces of the legsby means of the bolts The longitudinally extending supporting rail 26has a pair of latch elements 56 and 5S pivotally secured thereto bymeans of the bolt 60 and wing nut 62. The latch elements 56 and 58 areformed with offset portions 64 and 66 which are disposed in parallelrelation to the side walls of the rail 26 and are adapted to beengageable over the offset portions 34. The latches 56 and 58 are formedwith detent slots 65 for engagement with the detents 40 whereby when theupper ends 36 of the legs 38 are engaged underneath -the offset portions-34, 64 and 66, the latching elements 56 and 58 will xedly maintain theentire saw horse in-its supporting relation.

Reciprocably received on the underside of the hinged portion 42 is thebrace means 22 having the form of a plate longitudinally and slidablyfitted between and supported by the hinges 50,

52 and which has a pair of angulated depending rear end portions 68, anda depending front lip 69 Vnotched as at 69 to play between said hinges50, 52. The brace means 22 is slidable forwardly to interpose theangulated portions 68 between the hinge sections 46, 48, as best shownin Figure 5, to maintain the legs 38 swung away The lip 69 engages thehinge 44 to limit forward sliding of said brace means. The brace means22 may be slid rearwardly to withdraw said portions 68 from between thesections 46, 48, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 5, so that saidsections 46, 48 may .be swung toward each other and the legs 38correspondingly swung. A depending stop element 12 on the hinge plate 42extending into a slot 16 in said brace means 22 limits rearward slidingof said brace means.

An elongated rotatable element 14 is secured A to the underside of therail 26 by means of the screw 16 whereby when the element 14 islongitudinally disposed relative to the rail 26, the

end 18 will be engageable with the brace means m 22 for preventingoutward movement thereof. The element 14 may be rotated to atransversely extending position to permit the retraction of the bracemeans 22 when it is desired to fold the saw horse.

From the foregoing, the manner in .which the saw horse is folded will'bereadily understood by one skilled in the art. First, the element 14 isrotated to a transversely extending position and the brace means 22 isslid into its rearward limit of movement. The latch elements 56 and 58are pivoted upwardly upon loosening of the wing nut 62, whereupon thelegs 38 may be hingedly moved towards each other about the hinges 50 and52 and also hingedly moved to a longitudinally extending position aboutthe hinge 44. A conventional hook 80 and eyelet 82 are secured to therail 26 and leg 38 respectively for latchably retaining the legs infolded position.

As seen in Figure 2, the latch elements I8 and are formed with laterallyextending finger engaging portions 84 and 86 and rigidifying plates 88and 90. The latching elements may be pivoted about their pivotal axis`by engaging the finger engaging portions 84 and 86. The angulated por-4 tions 64 and 66 of the latch elements |8 and 20 are substantiallyrigidied by the plates 88 and 90.

Looking now at Figures '1 and 8, the elongated saw horse constructionwill be seen to comprise a pair of rails 92 and 94 having pairs of legs96 angularly extending therefrom at their outer ends. Each of the rails92 and 94 has a bracket 98 or |00 secured thereto. The brackets 98 and|00 are of rectangular cross-section and are secured to their respectiverails 62 and 94 by means of the bolts |02. The internal cross-sectionalarea of the brackets 98 and |00 is sufficient to receive the twolongitudinally extending rails 92 and 94.

Each of the rails 92 and 94 has a plate |04 or `|06 secured thereto bymeans of the bolts |08.

The plates |04 and |06 have arcuated portions I I8 formed withtransversely extending slots H2.

Each of the rails 92 or 94 has a pair of rigidifying'rods H4 and ||5 forinterconnecting the rails to the legs 96. The rods H4 have connectingbrackets H6 formed on their upper ends, the brackets H6 having arcuatedend portions H8 positionable through the slots H2 for engagement overthe arcuated ends H8 of the plates |64. The opposite ends of the rods H4have elongated brackets |28 secured thereto and formed withlongitudinally extending slots |22. The legs 96 are formed withrotatable latch elements |24 receivable through the slots |22 forreleasably securing the rigidifying rods H4 and H5 to the lower ends ofthe legs 96.

To further rigidify the elongated saw horse construction, a fth leg isprovided. As seen in Figures 7 and 9, the fifth leg |26 is comprised ofan elongated rectangularly cross-sectioned element |28 having a reducedupper end portion |30 extending therefrom. A pair of plates |32 and |34are secured around the reduced portion |38 by means of the screws |36and have their upper ends laterally extending at |38 and |40. A pivotplate v|42 is pivotally secured to the laterally extending portion |40by means of the i' pin |44l and has a downwardly angulated end |46engageable over the laterally extending portion |38 whereby when therail 92 is disposed in the space between the plates |32 and |34, theplate |42 will retain the leg |26 in supporting relation thereto.

Looking now at Figures 10 and 11, the vertically extensible folding sawhorse construction will be described. A conventional saw horse H havinga longitudinally extending supporting rail and angularly extending legs|50 has vertical extension means `I4 secured to the lower ends of thelegs |50 for maintaining the saw horse in raised relation to thesupporting surface S.

The extension means |4 is comprised of an extension leg |52 for each ofthe legs |58, each of the extension legs |59 being provided with aconnecting bracket |54. The connecting bracket |54 has an attachingportion |59 for securing the same to the extension leg |52, arectangularly cross-sectionedportion |58 for slidably receiving theintermediate portion of the leg |50 and a socket portion |68 forreceiving the lower end of the leg |50. Theupper end of the extensionvleg |52 is provided with a conventional hook |62 for association withthe-eyelet |64 secured to the leg |50 for retaining the conventional sawhorse connected to the extension means I4.

Joinder struts |66 have connecting brackets |68 and |18 secured to theirouter ends and formed with elongated slots |12 and |14. The

l. extension legs E52 have rotatable elements S24' secured thereto forpositioning through the slots H2 and l'ill for fixedly retaining thelegs 152 and joinder struts 65 together.

Having described the invention, what claimed as new is:

1. In a saw horse, including a longitudinal rail and a pair of legs atopposite sides of the rail, means for attaching the legs to said railfor folding under the rail comprising a U-shaped bracket straddling thebottom of the rail and having angulated sockets integral therewith andstraddling the legs at corresponding sides of said legs, a plate portionon said bracket beneath the rail hinged to bracket for swinging about anaxis transverse to the rail to fold the legs under the rail, a pair ofangulated sections straddling the legs at the sides thereof opposite thenist-mentioned sides and having hinges connecting the same to said plateportion for swinging about parallel axes extending longitudinally ofsaid rail for swinging of said angulated sections on said plate portionto swing the legs toward and from each other, coacting latch means onsaid rail and sockets for locking said plate portion against swinging tofold said legs, and a member slidable between said angulated members forpreventing swinging of the same to swing the legs toward each other.

2. In a saw horse according to claim 1, said coacting latch meanscomprising latch portions on said sockets, and pvoted latch elements onsaid rail formed with offset portions for straddling said sockets andhaving slots therein engageable with said latch portions.

3. In a saw horse according to claim 1, said angulated sectionsstraddling the legs below said sockets.

4. In a saw horse according to claim 1, said member being slidablysupported between and by said hinges.

5. In a saw horse according to claim l, said member comprising dependingangulated portions engageable with said angulated sections.

EDUARD H. J. STORCK.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,271,095 Staines July 2, 1918 1,580,935 Vidon Apr. 13, 19261,592,354 Gaiers July 13, 1926 1,711,328 Russell Apr. 30, 1929 1,881,755Logan et al Oct. 11, 1932 2,110,718 Shiley Mar. 8, 1938 2,271,701Maxwell Feb. 3, 1942 2.594,464 Loucks, Jr Apr. 29, 1952

